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Working Hi-Def Footage on iMac

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20' iMac / 2.0ghz / 250GB HD / 4.0GB RAM - Leopard
Some questions are probably basic, but when you don't know s*** you ask. Here is what I have:

iMac 2.0ghz with 2GB RAM and I have Canon HV20 (full HD res).

Questions:

1) HARDWARE
What is the best "transport" method (output connection) to transfer HD Video from this camera to my external hard drive through my iMac? (the camera gives you the choice of either using:
a) USB (from the small USB terminal in the body of the cam to the normal size USB connection in my iMac)
or
b) HDV/DV (using a IEEE1394 DV cable connecting one end to the HDV/DV terminal in the camera body and the other end into the iMac (iMac only takes 6-pin)
So what is best in terms of speed, use of resources and not running risks of dropping frames, etc.?

2) SOFTWARE
A) Can I use Final Cut Express 4 to capture the footage from my camera? Or Quicktime Pro will handle this (HD footage) with no problem?
B) What is the most convenient format I should capture into? MOV file? Even if it's HD video?
C) Can I edit HD video with iMovie or should I just get FCE4?
D) When I am done with editing, should render my edited version as a new MOV file?
D) If I want to grab that file and compress for uploading on the web? Can I do that with FCE4 or I can only do it with QT Pro?
E) And if so, what is the format I should compress into in order to upload on the web? H.264?

Thanks, R.
 
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Your Mac's Specs
2011 MBP, i7, 16GB RAM, MBP 2.16Ghz Core Duo, 2GB ram, Dual 867Mhz MDD, 1.75GB ram, ATI 9800 Pro vid
From what I see on the Canon site, this is a miniDV tape camera, so you only have one transport choice, Firewire.

iMovie HD and iMovie 08 can handle the HD from that camera. I _think_, if you import HD, they both will import as native HDV format, but I'm not positive on that. If you import standard SD format, it will be a DV file as read from the camera. I don't think you get to choose beyound that.

When you are done editing it is best to export to some format or even back to tape. I think right now full res H.264 or Apple Intermediate Codec, or the appropriate HDV format, then backup the file.

You can use your editing tool to export for the web, you don't need QT Pro. Use the expert mode to allow you to choose the size, data rate and other features. If you are uploading to a video site such as Youtube, find out what formats they support and size limits. Then set the options appropriately to maximize to the file size allowed. Search Youtube here and you'll find this has been discussed.
 

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